Sports that you've learned to love later in life

[Teja.]

Most of the sports we love to watch are picked up at childhood. I love watching cricket from when I was a kid watching it with family.

What are the sports you've learned to love to watch from scratch after you're already 18+. For me it's MMA. Very much a just bleed type of fan though.

 

[cpr]

I can sorta watch Golf now if its the last round of a major, I appreciate the pressure on the players now which passed me by as a kid. Likewise I can deal with Boxing if its a big fight - again its the human element rather than the spectacle that's attracting me in

 

[the big bambino]

Gradually warming to soccer. Conversely have a waning interest in both rugby codes.

 

[Spark]

Gradually warming to soccer. Conversely have a waning interest in both rugby codes.

Very similar to me although I'd say I'm a lot further along in the process than this. Whereas I once used to pretty strongly follow the Brumbies, now I barely know what's going on with them.

 

[Uppercut]

I arrived at cricket quite late, but I was a bit younger than 18. I got a little bit into baseball as an adult, and I still like it, but the time zones are too awkward to follow it properly.

 

[Uppercut]

Very similar to me although I'd say I'm a lot further along in the process than this. Whereas I once used to pretty strongly follow the Brumbies, now I barely know what's going on with them.

I think watching top-level soccer is a totally different experience to 20 or 30 years ago. Less chaotic and physical, more tactical and technical. So I'd kind of expect it to attract different types of fans.

 

[Teja.]

Baseball sounds like a great nerd sport.

 

[MrPrez]

Basketball, WWE (if that counts).

MMA but only because I barely knew it existed growing up.

 

[morgieb]

Aussie Rules, to some degree. I always had a vague interest in the sport admittedly and have had Swans membership for a very long time, but I rarely watched non-Swans games until I was about 18 or so....and even with Swans games my watching habits were patchy until about 16 or so. Around about 2012/13 it rapidly spiralled up to a genuine love, almost as much as cricket at times.

Think it's happened to soccer to some extent. Wouldn't say I'm a diehard fan by any degree but I do at least follow it, which really wasn't the case even five years ago.

The big converse example is league, which I followed more deeply than cricket from ages 9 to about 15/16, but lost interest fairly quickly and only really watch big games now (or if I'm with mates lol). Then you get tennis, where things have largely stayed stable but for a period of a couple of years where I followed it intently.

Really the only true stable is cricket, lol.

 

[morgieb]

Baseball sounds like a great nerd sport.

Yeah I'm pretty sure 90% of us would love it if we were American (and ingrained with the sport from a young age).

 

[Teja.]

I still enjoy cricket but am not close to the obsessive I was when I was 15 and joined the forum. WCs or a good test series when I’m not busy never fail to grab me though.

Used to watch a lot of soccer when I was 12-14 mainly because my brother/cousins watched it and I wanted to fit in but never really got big into it later. I still watch WCs and am a single agenda Arjun Robben fan from my childhood though. Guy can run.

Can enjoy a good tennis game but never really get emotionally invested in it.

 

[the big bambino]

I think watching top-level soccer is a totally different experience to 20 or 30 years ago. Less chaotic and physical, more tactical and technical. So I'd kind of expect it to attract different types of fans.

I like to follow the internationals, especially the qualifiers for the WC (and the various continental trophies) as well as the tournaments themselves. Have a mild interest in the English league and the Italian league due to family connections. Mostly will watch our own A League and though I don't support a club will usually follow the Wanderers when they play.

@Spark I can relate to what you say about the Brumbies. The contrast now to when they were the leaders of running rugby is stark and unflattering. They aren't even filling half the stadium anymore.

 

[Spark]

I think watching top-level soccer is a totally different experience to 20 or 30 years ago. Less chaotic and physical, more tactical and technical. So I'd kind of expect it to attract different types of fans.

Partially but in my case it's purely down to opportunity. No way I'd be able to follow top-level European football without the modern internet (as in, like, online -- and very much legal -- stream services). Following it is just way too much of a hassle otherwise with the timezones unless you're already invested in a team.

 

[cnerd123]

MMA. Did a Muay Thai class like 6-7 years ago and it opened a whole new world for me

 

[BoyBrumby]

Aussie Rules is the main one for me. Pretty much exclusively because of CW when the AFL bods on here used to run a fantasy league and I got tired of having my nose pressed up against the glass looking at what the cooler kids were up to inside.

I don't have a particularly sophisticated understanding of the sport, but it's slightly less mystifying than it was.

Its lack of an offside line used to **** me no end but that's because the football codes I grew up with (association football and both the rugby codes) all had one. Having one isn't necessarily better or worse, it's just what one's used to.

I do think though it's quite badly served by telly sometimes, given its huge playing area and the aforementioned lack of offside. When one watches an association football match live one sees there's a lot more going on than what the coverage picks up and that's in a code with offside. One imagines it's doubly or trebly so for Aussie Rules.

 

[Uppercut]

Partially but in my case it's purely down to opportunity. No way I'd be able to follow top-level European football without the modern internet (as in, like, online -- and very much legal -- stream services). Following it is just way too much of a hassle otherwise with the timezones unless you're already invested in a team.

Yeah that makes sense. For some reason soccer seems to have benefited far more from globalisation than any other sport. Probably related to its structure (i.e. fully open qualification systems, clubs being more effective commercially than countries or "franchises"). Probably also related to it being the best sport.

 

[vcs]

I once watched volleyball during the Olympics and found it absolutely captivating. But it's not something that I've ever followed apart from that one occasion. They don't seem to televise it at all.

 

[Teja.]

Must say it’s pretty ****ing cool that mlb puts up most non-recent games up full length on their YouTube channel. Wish cricket did that.

Watching game 162 without knowing the result right now.

 

[Cabinet96]

Follow and watch a bit of basketball these days but it's still a distinct fourth in my favourite sports. Tbh I do find it way harder to care about it without having the childhood investments I made in other sports.

 

[sledger]

I arrived at cricket quite late, but I was a bit younger than 18. I got a little bit into baseball as an adult, and I still like it, but the time zones are too awkward to follow it properly.

Same.

American Football as well as baseball for me though.

Could not get my head around it as a kid, but really got into it around 2009 to 2013. Once I got a job following it regularly became really difficult though, and following it real time is basically impossible now. Still really enjoy it when I get the chance to watch though.